Lovely photography with much more text than I was expecting. "Winter Gardens" is very nicely designed and offers a contrast to many other botanical explorations. I would have enjoyed seeing more snow scenes - the gardens here are very barren, but without the beauty of snowfall.

Great pictures and interesting text. It made me travel to different places and wish I was there.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* Really pretty pictures, wish there was more snow but would be a good coffee table book

I happen to live in a part of the world known for rain. Interestingly, the state only cracks the top 5 (let alone the top 10) in winter, based on state-wide average precipitation; the rest of the year, it's nowhere on the list. Who knew?! Certainly not me!

And yet, there's truth in the fact that for much of the year, my state and city are at minimum overcast, if not drizzly. We get a lot more drizzle than rainfall, hence the factoid above. Vitamin D supplements are a fact of life, and summer here starts July 5.

Sooooo as we're roughly a month into the "drizzle era," I felt the need for a splash of color to liven things up. Enter this book.

It actually entirely brings to mind one of my BFFs, a horticulturist; I could entirely envision her smiling and nodding, interjecting all sorts of commentary. I, on the other hand, felt pretty mind-blown at every turn. Sure, I've visited Victoria, BC's, Butchart Gardens during all 4 seasons--but _man_, even with that, I had no idea just the wide variety of plants, trees, and #allthethings that can and do come to life in the winter. This book represents #goals for bringing a pop (or a lot of pops) of color whenever I have my own "bit of earth" to work on!

The read is such a refreshing breath of fresh air during this (literal) winter season. It's brilliantly photographed; even if you're like me and your eyes glaze over at the Latin names in the photo captions, you'll absolutely find something to enjoy and appreciate here.

All the area drizzle where I live definitely means we have a lot of green here--and this book helps me to look for new signs of life and color, whether amidst the evergreens lining the freeway, or street-corner "mini gardens" lining most neighborhood intersections.

I received an eARC of the book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Winter gardens can be positively striking! The author/photographer of Winter Gardens discusses and photographs the twenty most lovely winter gardens in France and the UK. Talk about gorgeous writing and pictures! We often focus on the foliage and canopy of gardens but there is much more including bark, inflorescences and fruit. Various textures abound like crazy! This book is a magnificent reminder to sit (stand!) up and take notice. As I type I am gazing through the windows at ornamental fruit trees with thickened fissures and peeling bark, a pretty juxtaposition to the white snow. Lovely.

The author describes the concept of winter gardens, the importance of plant elements such as texture and colour, staggering plants of different sizes and types and how to clean and clear bark. But it is not all about trees...there are shrubs (dogwoods) and flowering plants (hellebores) in this book as well.

Here on the Canadian prairies snow for six months of the year and frigid temperatures down to -40C mean we only go out if we must, rarely for pleasure. We do not have remotely the planting options as in continental Europe but we are able to grow some listed in this book which is remarkable (300 plants are listed and described in the latter part). Regardless of climate, however, there is always, always something to see in nature if you look. Reds and yellows look particularly vibrant, especially when the leaves are gone. Branches themselves can be craggy and twisty like the monkey puzzle tree and bark can be rough, smooth and/or colourful (Eucalyptus coccifera and bamboos). The author details factors which contribute to changes such as age and climate.

If you appreciate plants in general, you do not want to miss this. You need not be a gardener. to ogle and dream. The superlative photography is surreal. I have had the fortune to have visited some of these gardens but what a treat to see them out of season!

My sincere thank you to Quarto Publishing Group - White Lion and NetGalley for the privilege of salivating over this breathtaking and inspiring book.

Let’s be honest here, it’s hard to tank a photography book. People like me are 100% okay with spectacular pictures and little else—as long as they’re good, it’s all right by us. Bring it.

Still, even if my eye is trained to look at beauty, there are books able to blow me away. Ladies, gents, and non-binary folks, meet Winter Gardens by Cedric Pollet.

**


In this stunning reimagination of an entire season, acclaimed and award-winning author and photographer Cedric Pollet presents 20 of the most beautiful winter gardens across France and the UK.

Winner of the Garden Media Guild – Garden Book of the Year award, Pollet showcases these breathtaking winter gardens which are at their best when most gardens are at their barest.

Rich with blazes of colour and light, these gardens use creative structural planning and subtle textures to greate masterful visual and sensory ensembles.

From berries and barks to vibrant shrubs and evergreens, these gardens will delight and inspire in equal measure, all captured in extroardinary photographs by Pollet, one of today’s masters of garden photography and accompanied by insightful text which picks out the reasons these gardens are so special.

The second half of the book is an illustrated directory of over 300 plants which encourage you to achieve these effects in their own gardens.

From the author of bestselling Bark: An Intimate Look at the World’s Trees, this beautiful guide is a unique and unmissable book on some of the most creative and inspiring gardens around today.

224 pages
Photography, gardening
Quarto Publishing Group – White Lion
Goodreads

**

Cover: Well, I’m not sure why Pollet didn’t go for a more vibrant picture here – Marks Hall Gardens & Arboretum (pg. 89) would have been a brilliant choice, for example.

Yay!

- So, you say winter, you say garden, and your standard reaction would be meh. Winter is the season of bare trees, pines, and rotten leaves, right? Wrong. Gardens are alive in winter too, just in a different way. It’s less in-your-face, that life, subtler than the typical pomp of Summer and Fall, but it’s there. Pollet’s mission with Winter Gardens is to bring them into the spotlight, showing us a different kind of beauty.
Magnificent pictures, and I really like the color scheme. The prevalence of red and white creates striking contrasts, even more so when green elements are present in the picture. Some remind me of art installations (Cornus alba and Helleborus foetida, pg. 100)

- Wonderful variety of plants and gardens!

- Winter Gardens is split into two main sections plus a Four Favorites chapter right at the beginning. Source of Inspiration and the Plant Palette complete the book, with the first showcasing gardens and the latter focusing on practicality and aesthetics. It’s rather informative too— say, the concept of decorative bark is news to me.

- Pollet’s writing style can be technical and informative without being boring. It’s also well-edited, a feature I’m starting to anticipate (and highfive!) in every Quarto Publishing book.

Special mention:

- La Pommeraie.
- Eucalyptus pauciflora. Its trunk is white.
- Didrangea versicolor, with its blue berries
- Berberis ‘Gorgei’, red fruits.
- Cambridge University Botanic Garden.
- Bressingham Gardens.

Nay!

- I would have loved a better caption system. A picture = a caption works best.

TL;DR

5 stars on GR.

This stunning book focuses on gardens with winter interest. Four main gardens are covered (L'Etang De Launay, Jardin Du Bois Marquis, Bressingham Gardens and the garden of Sir Harold Hillier. The photos are stunning and beautifully illustrated what can be accomplished with such a garden. The last portion of the book focuses on the plants that can be used. Some of these plants have beautiful bark, some have evergreen foliage or berries and some provide fascinating architectural interest. Although the gardens profiled are in Europe, the same plants can be utilized here in the U.S. (birch, dogwood, cherry, bamboo, witch hazel, heather, ornamental grasses, etc.). A beautiful book to browse through during the winter months while you dream about your garden.

Breathtaking beautiful photography.These winter gardens are stunning I could almost feel the cold air.This is an absolutely gorgeous book Inloved visiting these garden seeing them through the amazingly talented authors eye.This would make a gorgeous gift.#netgalley #wintergardens

I quite liked this book for the ideas it gave me to create more interest in my garden at winter. I mostly wanted the book for nice winter photography, and I think for that the book fell a bit short. It did not feel that the photography was an important aspect of the book, despite the huge number of photos. So as inspiring the ideas of the gardens were, the photos were not that brilliant for me.

Winter Gardens is a beautiful photography and informational book. It includes 300 photos of gardens in the UK and France that are designed to be beautiful in winter as well as other seasons. Through the use of trees with colored barks, evergreens and plants like heather and others foliage gardens can be planned for winter beauty. Living in Utah, where winter means snow covered, I found the idea of winter gardens intriguing. I particularly like photos showing the same spot in different seasons. The book includes lists of trees, bushes, and plants good for winter gardens and nurseries where you can get them. Highly recommend this book for any gardeners that climates can accommodate these type of gardens. And anyone can enjoy the beautiful photography. Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group - White Lion for the temporary eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I now have Winter Garden envy thanks to this book! It's a stunning collection of photographs across a a variety of gardens in France and the UK, showing just how wonderful a garden can look during the winter months, when most people think there's nothing going on in gardens! Here's a book that proves that wrong!

Alongside the beautiful photos, there's wonderful text and useful information shared on the history of gardens and how they've evolved over the years and how more people are making an emphasis now on keeping the gardens looking good all year round. He looks in depth at the gardens that excel at this and if the photos don't inspire you then there's something wrong with you!

It looks at the plants that are often overlooked, and how during winter you rely more on structure and colour and goes into depth of various plants and trees and how they can be used to keep the interest going. I loved the lists of plants used and they are a really helpful guide for plant shopping as I'm definitely determined now to put more effort into my winter garden as this book has been a real inspiration and opened my eyes to a new way of using the garden all year round!

What a stunning and inspirational book. Gardens in winter can be very dull and boring. This book will totally change your mind. It is full of glorious, bright photographs full of colour, not just from flowers, shape texture. I am a huge fan of interesting tree barks and this book really highlights the range of colour and texture these can offer. This is the best book by far that I have come across for covering this topic. Favourite gardens of the author, sources of winter inspiration from other gardens and an incredibly useful ‘plant palette’, detailing a wide variety of trees and plants you may want to include are all beautifully photographed and described. There is also a very useful final section detailing nurseries from which the many plants, trees and bamboos are available. This book will make you want to transform your garden! Definitely on my Christmas present list! My thanks to Netgalley and Quarto Publishing for allowing me access to an early digital copy in return for an honest review.

I really love Winter Gardens! This book brings attention to a season that many don't appreciate, and shows us how beauty can be found year-round. Cedric Pollet's stunning photographs bring a greater appreciation for nature during the colder months. His photos help us see things we may normally overlook in a new light, and discover the beauty around us! I found reading and looking through this book to be peaceful, and it inspired me to search for spots around me to explore and draw. The color palettes can even give ideas for gorgeous wintery schemes to incorporate into your home or art. I loved the informative captions which enabled me to further explore different plants and trees I hadn't known about before.

I received this book from the publisher through Netgalley for review and all thoughts and opinions are my own.
In this stunningly beautiful book, the authors showcase several gardens in France and the UK that feature trees, shrubs and plants with vibrant colorful bark and foliage. A winter garden isn't dead, only dormant and can be filled with color and life as it rests for the season. The book features a few favored gardens in the regions and then has an illustrated directory of over 300 plants for inspiration. Highly recommend for UK gardeners but would also be an asset for the North American gardener and landscaper.

Winter Gardens is a informational and photography book featuring gardens throughout England and France in what is typically considered to be their least beautiful season, Winter. In the case of the featured gardens, they have been designed to be beautiful throughout the year thanks to the trees planted there. Many of the trees and shrubs have bright colored bark that contrasts beautifully against the dark bare wood of other plants. The photographs in this book are truly stunning. I especially loved the ones showing the same spot in the garden in winter and late spring to show the difference in the foliage. In addition to information about the chosen gardens, the book provides an extensive resource of trees, bushes, and other plants that retain their beauty in the winter so that someone at home may be able to find something that will work in their garden.
Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – White Lion for the ARC.


Bookstagram post to come. I will update the review when it is posted.

This is a beautiful book filled with inspiration for adding color and texture to winter gardens. There's an extra focus on trees and bushes, such as dogwoods with their red branches and the stark of birch's white bark, plus lots of really interesting looking winter trees. A number of public gardens are featured with examples of how they look in all four seasons. The focus is really on the architecture of the plants more than traditional flowers and such. Plant names are given in their Latin names without including common names, which may frustrate some gardeners who don't know that malus is the apple or crab apple family, for instance. Best suited for UK gardeners, as plant zones are not included. All in all beautiful inspiration.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.

Absolutely gorgeous! Winter gardens with enchanting scenery and amazing vistas.

What did I like? Gorgeous book! Different winter gardens from several different gardeners and landscaping. Rustic and colorful pictures over a hundred pages of European landscape. A winter wonderland!

Would I recommend or buy? I loved it! Winter is a great season and this author gives gardening a winter look! Beautiful book!

I received a complimentary copy to read and voluntarily left a review! Five stars!

We tend to think of winter as a time of death and decay for our gardens, but Pollet’s photographs of some of the most beautiful gardens in France and the UK reveal a stark beauty. With birds and small mammals depending on berries and seeds leftover from the previous season and frost coating the trees and shrubs, readers will see that these gardens are very much alive

Winter Gardens by Cedric Miller

A stunning book . The images really capture the most beautiful images of winter gardens . An art book to be enjoyed all real round.
The addition of a listing of the gardens and suppliers of plants and trees is an added bonus as well.

Simple gorgeous. Fab photography and interesting text. Highly recommended. Feet up, I sat down with a cup of cocoa on a windy afternoon and transported myself to wonderful winter gardens.